Symbols of Alchemy – Introduction

The symbols of Alchemy reveal the secrets of Inner Rebirth. The main goal of the alchemist was an inner secret, looking for the way to develop his own inner world of vision and understanding. The gold of the alchemists was called Mercury or the Inner Sun. The god Mercury was the one who was responsible for communication with the gods. The alchemists were concerned with spiritual things and not the riches of this earth. They believed that if they worked the untransformed inner life of man, they might to change it into the higher life. The alchemists liked to compare their art with a transformation of a dark, ugly chrysalis into a beautiful butterfly. Alchemists called the search for the inner gold “Great Work” or the “Hermetic Secret”, from Hermes, the Greek equivalent of Mercury, who have taught the secrets of alchemy to men.